China's Confucius Institutes

Selling the sage of Qufu

China's answer to the Alliance Française

THE old man would surely be proud. This week some 300 representatives, from 35 different countries, gathered in Beijing's Great Hall of the People for the first-ever Confucius Institute conference. This was no philosophical pow-wow, but the world's largest-ever conference on teaching Chinese as a foreign language. Confucius Institutes are China's answer to the Alliance Française, Germany's Goethe Institut and the British Council, and officials hope they will help meet a growing global demand for Chinese-language education.

Confucius Institutes have got off to a roaring start. The first was established in Tashkent in Uzbekistan in June 2004, the 75th in Cracow in Poland exactly two years later. No other Chinese international franchise has done as well. Officially, they are overseen by Hanban, the agency charged by the Education Ministry with promoting the teaching of Chinese overseas. But Hanban's staff of only around 50 can barely cope with the volume of applications, on top of its other duties which include administering Hanyu Shuipin Kaoshi, the standard test of proficiency in Chinese.

So Hanban has let the network grow organically. One key to its success has been the use of joint ventures. The institutes are not run by Hanban, but by partnerships between Chinese universities and local universities in the host country. The host university takes the responsibility for housing the institute; its Chinese partner provides the teaching staff and materials.

A second advantage is the institutes' ability to adapt to local demands, rather than following a set curriculum. Thus, in Nairobi, you can learn how to make Tianjin dumplings, while in Singapore you can sign up for a 14-day study tour of the sage's hometown, Qufu, in Shandong province.

Hanban claims that the primary role of the Confucius Institutes is to teach Chinese, but their name is also evocative of China's former influence in Asia, and its growing presence now. Despite the iciness of official relations between China and Japan, universities there are falling over each other to set up the next institute. Already there are four, the most in any Asian country; the number is set to double by the end of the year. Even in the 21st century, Confucius is proving to be China's best ambassador.